#today's focus

[s4ltedcod]

dead and gone

[strangesmallbard]

when are jews allowed to be scared?

when jewish hospitals are protested? when jewish children are harassed on the way to school? when we’re chased through the streets of amsterdam in the year fucking 2024?

when our homes are being firebombed on the first night of passover? when we’re gunned down in front of a jewish museum? when 11 of us are gunned down during shabbat services?

when 1,200 of us are murdered? when 6 million of us are murdered?

what needs to happen that’s finally enough for the well-meaning people of the world to believe us and give a shit?

[nellasbookplanet]

I'm hardly the first to make this observation, but the problem with many self-proclaimed cozy stories is that they're so scared to take risks, scared to do anything that could make the reader even slightly uncomfortable, because being uncomfortable isn’t very cozy. Characters lack in flaws and messiness; conflict is lackluster or quickly resolved or avoided altogether; a darker moment must always be followed by a peptalk, never lingered on; moral ambiguity is eschewed, because anything else would be problematic and messy. If a main character has flaws it’s always those of the good victim, someone who needs to heal and be validated but not grow and be challenged. Challenge, of character or reader, is anathema.

As I'm playing Stray, I'm struck by the thought that this is quite possibly the coziest piece of media I've ever experienced. You're playing as a little kitty cat. You’re carrying around a tiny robot companion in a backpack. Your enemies are tiny white blobs called zorks. There are game mechanics to meow and scratch up people's walls and furniture and knock paint cans off shelves and take naps. The pacing rarely rushes you, rather actively encourages you to slow down. You can stop and listen to a guy play guitar, or look for flowers to gift someone, or take a nap on a cushion while beautiful scenery full of plants and fairy lights roll by.

But it’s also a game set in the ruins of a near dead world. The cute blobs will eat you alive. The robot you're carrying is an uploaded mind earnestly struggling through an existential crisis and mourning an entire species. Under the plants and the fairy lights is garbage and rust and buildings falling apart. There’s no sunlight. There are creepy eyes watching you in the sewers. There’s classism and oppression and the downfall of man.

And through it all, the robots who inherited the world are working so hard to find pockets of hope and happiness. They paint and play music and play games and dance and grow plants and create cozy little homes for themselves. They resist for the sake of freedom and autonomy, they create an entire language, they dream of a world most think they'll never see.

This dichotomy of dark and light is something I see often in (better) cozy media. Dungeon Meshi is a fun cozy adventure where they make delicious food and talk about self-care. It's also about grief and the inevitability of death and the impacts of social inequalities. The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet is a cozy found family road trip in space; it’s also about the difficulties of understanding each other across cultural barriers and the massive ramifications when we refuse to do so. Legends and Lattes is basically a dnd coffeshop au; it’s also about struggling to find happiness and purpose and self-worth after a life of violence, not knowing if you're able to successfully achieve anything but bloodshed. And All the Stars is full of found family and pastries and characters just hanging out; all of this happens as they're hiding and fleeing from invading aliens who see them as nothing but a resurce to be used. One of my favorite episodes of critical role is the beach episode of c2, where they basically just hang out; this happens soon after they buried their friend who died trying to save them, as they're trying to figure out who they are and what they want after his loss.

And that’s the thing, isn't it? Any story that is uniformly the same thing all the way through ends up as bland. A grimdark story that never offers respite or moments of hope will numb you to the horrors, removing their bite. A cozy story that offers nothing to be struggled against, nothing for which cozy moments and aesthetics is a break, lacks impact. A story needs ups and downs, a rhythm of misery and hope.

[ahappydnp]

dan and phil aren't real and can't hurt me

dan and phil aren't real and can't hurt me

dan and phil aren't real and can't hurt me

[noodles-and-tea]

Me after watching people come back to the hetalia fandom after I've never escaped it like a witch cackling over her cauldron😈😈😈yesss let hetalia consume you🤣>:))

Well, it’s too late anyways, I’ve been consumed 🫡

[dreamlydrawsshit]

okay. uh. here? have some gays for your pride month?

[spoopdeedoop]

Helloooo mind sharing just some sketches maybe? I really wanna study your art so bad cause i genuinly want to draw like you🥹 ive been drawing for over 11 years and yet my art style still looks like it was drawn by a 13 year old😭

AWGSVD im flattered thank you….. and yes of course!! i have a ton of traditional junk from the past month or so that i’d normally not post here bc its all messy and improfessional but i was just thinking about maybe sharing some so you came with literally perfect timing

[waverlyyhaught]

Favorite Marta and Fina Moments - Part 100 Sueños de Libertad, Ep. 183

[xxplastic-cubexx]

cherik as that one pink nightgown and blue pajamas holding a candle picture

this is so rushed but like. but like i see the vision and i needed to share it with all of you ok. pov you got caught raiding the fridge at 3AM

[dallasgallant]

His ass is not working

[eltsia]

🧲🧠 don't pay too much attention to how metallic that metal looks. I iust wanted to draw their Russia reconnaissance outfits and Erik with white hair....

[kaeya-senpai]

Hi guys im still not over it

[kaiju-naut]

Not super in love w/ this but!! forced myself to finish it and that's what counts :) I dont do enough art where it's characters actually interacting

[johnnyshrine]

★ 071 // “it gets better”

[pnfc]

[itsnicsalad]

waffles👍 i cant remember the last time i drew the emerald trio by themselves lol